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| Learning Log # 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| October 19, 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Keith Scott | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reviewing the web site Parents Say No to Ohio Proficiency Test began with a surprise. When opened, the link began with the title, Who Are the Bullies? With a title like that, it seems reasonable to expect that a listing of all those folks who advocate standardized testing would be listed, along with their names, addresses and phone numbers. That?s not the way the link worked, though. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| It was a short page and a wee bit more. It had four bulleted points which were points and counterpoints about standardized teaching which all teachers are familiar with. They are summarized as follows: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Point | Counterpoint | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The test demonstrate a student?s proficiency, and should be used to determine graduation and grade advancement | Testing never replaces authentic learning and classroom evaluations. No single test assesses critical thinking and problem solving skills good enough to wield such power | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The One Size Fits All Assessment is a valid model | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This test ignores individual learning styles and cultural and economic backgrounds | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The test changes the focus of teaching because with it, the goal is simply to teach to the test. Learning doesn't necessarily follow along. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The test improves overall education and instruction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| State Legislatures know best about educating children | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oh come on! (a paraphrase in my own words) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The second part of the link is entitled, How Do We Deal with Bullies? It has some advise to Ohio parents about exempting their children from some of the tests, and it tells them where they should call to learn their rights and the procedures for exempting their children from these tests. The link ends with a list of sites to visit for further information. Some of these sites, like www.mainstreamop.org, were not in service. Others had faulty links inside them and were thus not navigable. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The site www.eval.org had a very clear positions statement defining high-stakes testing as ?...under-serving or mis-serving all students, especially the most needy and vulnerable...?, and the site for the National Coalition of Education Activists had a newsletter that defined what the various types of tests were in general, as well as some specific parental views of tests. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This particular site, Parents Say No to Ohio Proficiency Test , seemed to me to be more inciting than insightful, and the links I examined ranged from being quite good, to irrelevant, to inaccessible. Because some of the links had dated references as far back as 1999, I suspect that this was a page that hadn?t been updated or evaluated in some time. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||